Heather B. Armstrong discusses the true benefit of being a stay-at-home parent, and the requisite privilege that allows such a situation to come about:

“I like babies, they smell good and are very cute, but I very much prefer what it feels like as a parent to witness my child learning. Not learning how to sit up or hold a spoon or how to say a word. Those are all wonderful developments, of course, but being in the room as my child learns about being human is beyond any honor I could achieve in my life.

[...]

I don’t think this scenario is easily replicable. I am more than certain that there are legions of kids out there who have talent that could crush steel if only it had the chance to be fostered, if a parent could take 40 minutes of their afternoon and devote it to walking around a room.”

Amen. I feel so lucky that I've been around for nearly all of my son's social development. I don't ever want to take this privilege for granted, and—like Heather and her daughter—I want him to someday understand how lucky he was to have both parents at home all the time.